Tom Waits - Swordfishtrombones

By Daniel Durchholz

The first album of the loose trilogy that also includes Rain Dogs
and Franks Wild Years, Swordfishtrombones marked a radical
departure for Waits, whose avant-garde ambitions became plain not so much
in his lyrics or subject matter--the songs here deal, as do his older
albums, with hard life on the wrong side of the tracks and dreams of
escape and transcendence--but in the music, a sound somewhere between
German cabaret music from between the wars and contemporary Manhattan rush
hour. Odd time signatures, unusual instrumentation (glass harmonicas and
brake drums, among others), and Waits's barked vocals make this one of his
most individualistic and challenging albums.